Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition
Since its inception by the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) in 1992, the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition has grown to cover five world regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa. More than 60 teams participate yearly in this competition. Registered teams get exclusive on-line access to papers of the IISL’s Colloquium Proceedings from 2005. Also, many useful and interesting documents are freely accessible through the resources page of this website.
Regional winners receive financial support to attend the World Finals. The IISL’s Lachs competition is particularly distinguished by the tradition of judges of the International Court of Justice presiding over and judging the World Final. The World Finals competition takes place within the framework of the IISL’s annual Colloquium, which is a contained event in the International Astronautical Congress held on a different continent each year. The Lachs competition offers an unparalleled learning experience to all teams at all levels in a fair and cordial environment.
Calendar for the 2021 Competition
The 2021 Lachs Competition will be held based on the following schedule, which will be finalized with Memorial and oral argument dates determined for each Region by the Regional Organizers. The goal is to have oral arguments in each Region in person, if possible, and virtually if needed due to public health issues.
The 2021 Problem was released before August 15, 2020.
Calendar for the 2021 Regional Competitions:
| Dates |
Events |
| 15 December 2020 |
Deadline for Submission of Requests for Clarification |
| 31 January 2021 |
Deadline for Team Registration |
| 31 January 2021 |
Deadline for Author to Respond to Requests for Clarification |
| March – April 2021 |
Deadline for Submission of Written Memorials as scheduled by each Region |
| April – June 2021 |
Oral Rounds (in-person or virtual), as scheduled by each Region |
Calendar for the 2021 World Finals:
| Dates |
Events |
| 31 July 2021 |
Deadline for Submission of Written Memorials for World Finals by Regional Winners |
| October 2021 |
Oral Rounds of Semi-Finals (in-person or virtual) |
| October 2021 |
Oral Round, World Finals (in-person or virtual) |
Aims
The aims of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition (the “Competition”) are to promote the interest in, involvement in and knowledge of space law among students by providing a fair and competitive environment for the exchange of thoughts and the deepening of understanding of space law.
Organization
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The organization of the Competition takes place under the auspices of the International Institute of Space Law (“IISL”). For this purpose, the IISL Board of Directors has constituted a Moot Court Committee. The Moot Court Committee may delegate the organization of Regional Rounds to other individuals, organizations or institutions (the “Regional Organizers”).
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Organization of and participation in the Regional Rounds must comply with these Official Rules unless decided otherwise by the Moot Court Committee. If necessary, the Regional Organizers may adopt their own specific rules applicable to their Regional Round, but these rules must meet with the prior approval of the Moot Court Committee.
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The appointment of a Regional Organizer by the Moot Court Committee is subject to the approval of the Board of Directors of the IISL.
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The Regional Organizers shall ensure the maintenance of a high academic level of judges for the oral arguments and memorials, and shall properly organize the logistics of the round, if necessary with the cooperation of the Moot Court Committee.
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Each Regional Round in each year shall have at least three (3) registered competitors from at least two (2) different countries within the region concerned, except for the North American Rounds, which shall have at least three registered competitors from at least two different states of the United States or two different countries. If the teams registered are not sufficient to meet the requirements of this Article 2(5), the Regional Rounds may still be held but the winner will not be eligible to proceed to the World Finals. Regional organizers may grant a special invitation to teams of other regions, which have no regional organization, to participate in a regional competition, with the approval of the Committee.
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The Regional Organizers shall endeavour to ensure that the winners of the Regional Competition obtain the necessary funds for travel and stay to participate in the World Finals, which are held at the location of the annual International Astronautical Congress (IAC).
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The Moot Court Committee will publish a timetable with all relevant deadlines and dates for the competition on the designated website of the Competition. Each Regional Rounds must be completed at the latest by the end of June, so as to be able to comply with the deadline for submission of memorials for the World Finals.
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Each participating team shall prepare memorials and argue the case for both the Applicant and the Respondent at least once each during its Regional Rounds.
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The language of the competition at all stages is English.
Participation
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The Competition is open to teams composed of students enrolled in law schools, law faculties or law departments. In addition, the Competition is open to teams composed of students enrolled in schools other than law where it can be demonstrated in writing to the Regional Organizer concerned, if requested, that space law or public international law forms a part of the teaching program.
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The teams shall consist of no less than two (2) and no more than three (3) students who are registered students within six (6) months prior to the date of their relevant Regional Rounds. Students eligible to compete for include but are not limited to candidates for an LL.B, LL.M, J.D. or equivalent degree, but shall exclude PhD students and students who received their first law degree, whether an LL.B, LL.M, J.D. or equivalent degree, five or more years prior to January 1 of the competition year.
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Only two (2) students will argue in any one particular match of the Competition and are allowed to sit at the agent’s table of that relevant match. All three (3) members of the team are allowed to work on and contribute to the preparation of the memorials.
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Permission in writing from the applicable Regional Organizer is required if any student wishes to participate for a second or more times in the competition. No student may participate for a second time if such student was a member of a team that previously won a Regional competition or the student or the team was disqualified in a previous competition.
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No school, faculty, department or institution shall enter the Competition with more than one team in any year.
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A team may be composed of students from different universities within the region, as long as it formally represents only one university that is not already separately represented and that the prior written approval of the Regional Organizer has been obtained.
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Each team shall have a Faculty Advisor who is a staff member of the participating institution. The Faculty Advisor shall not be a student.
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A team may have one assistant to the Faculty Advisor (referred to herein as the “Assistant Faculty Advisor”).
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Faculty Advisors and Assistant Faculty Advisors supporting the team shall confine themselves to a supporting role, limited to a general discussion of issues and suggestions as to research sources, and shall guarantee that the memorials and oral pleadings in their final versions are solely the work of the students comprising the team. Faculty Advisors are encouraged to arrange for trial rounds and video training to prepare the teams for their oral arguments and to attend the Regional Rounds and/or World Finals in which their team participates. Faculty Advisors and Assistant Faculty Advisors shall comply with any Faculty Advisor Code of Conduct or Supplemental Rules adopted by the Organizing Committee or appropriate Regional Organizer.
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The role of the Faculty Advisor (and her/his assistant or coaches) must not extend past a supporting role, as Articles 3(9)(A) and 5(7) implicitly recognize. The Faculty Advisor may not conduct research but may generally guide research. The Faculty Advisor may not draft or edit the Memorials in either a draft or final format. The Faculty Advisor may read drafts of the Memorials and discuss them with the students in a general manner. The Faculty Advisor, however, should not provide specific written edits on the drafts. Otherwise, the drafting of the Memorials will not be “solely the work of the students.” This is a fine line. By way of example, a Faculty Advisor could read a Memorial and comment that a certain section could use some changes and additional support; the Faculty Advisor may generally discuss the issues that should be revised or expanded and may suggest cases that the students should review. The Advisor should not, however, make specific editing suggestions, or provide analysis of cases. When in doubt about the limits of their role, the Faculty Advisor should contact the Regional Organizer.
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Except in extraordinary circumstances and only with the prior written approval of the Regional Organizer, no team may have the involvement of more than three (3) students and their Faculty Advisor or Assistant Faculty Advisor.
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Without the prior approval of the Regional Organizer in extraordinary circumstances, no team may replace any one or more of its student members after the relevant deadline for registration of teams has passed.
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Each team member shall grant to the IISL a non-revocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, publish, or otherwise make available, in any and all media, the memorials were written for the Competition, and together with the Faculty Advisors, Designated Staff Members, and Assistant Faculty Members, shall grant the IISL permission to take, record and use photographs, audio and/or video of the Competition for any purpose whatsoever.
IISL Young Scholars Awards
The IISL Young Scholars Fund was created in 2011 to support the achievements of students participating in each of the five Regional Rounds of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition. The Fund grants monetary awards in the following categories:
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Winning Team: 200 Euros
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Team with the Best Memorials: 125 Euros
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Best Oralist of the Regional Round: 100 Euros
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The Young Scholars Fund has been formed and is largely maintained by donations from IISL members, to honour the very significant achievement of these students.
For detailed information, click here
